Into the Forest

Lilith leaned against the corner of the room and seemingly stayed there for the night. She barely slept at all, she only sat there with her eyes staring off into the distance. She noticed Armando was still awake.
"You...the dustmen, shouldn't you be sleeping? It's strange for a regular to not sleep."

Armando looked at her " i should be, cant nightmares. and im by no means regular. Any one else in this room besides u i guess might as well not even be the same species as me."

Lilith never turned to look at him or acknowledge what he said was accurate.
"I would suppose you would be right. You seem..." she paused for a long time before finishing her thought. "...different from the others. Something to do with that visor, am I right?"

He would smile "You are correct my friend. Candidate 001 Visor Project Fort Harbringer. The visor activates the copious amounts of genetic and mechanical augmentations to my body. My genetics have been fucked with so much i barely consider myself human."

Lilith turned to him for a moment then returned to staring into the distance.
"Ah, like Chroma only far viewer people were 'fucked' with in Visor."

He would nod "Probably. About 200 hundred people were put into the visor, 50 were done right the others either died or suffered for days as their bodies slowly destroyed themselves rejecting the augments. Atleast they got to die, i wanted that for...quite a long while. Especially after what happened with the other test subject that shared a room with me betrayed me like she did...oh sorry you probably dont want to hear about my sob story. We all have one these days."

"I have nothing against it if you want want to tell me. We seem to have more in common than I first anticipated."

He would smile and nod

"Alright then. Well during the project the room mates they gave us were either random or by merit. My room mate was a girl named Aria, she was the best besides me. Of course we were friends but after a while well, i'm guessing you can guess what might have happened. She was the only girl i ever have felt that way about before. Now i of course ended up thinking i loved her and she felt the same. One day we got sick and tired of how we and the other test subjects were treated and we staged an escape. As me and her were leaving the compound, right on the edge of its fences. She wouldn't move, so i reached my hand out for her and said 'take it, run away with me'. The next thing i know i hear i soldiers and a helicopter closing in and she backs away smiling at me, she doesn't stop smiling even after they capture and throw me into one of the armored vans that brought me to a cell on the base. I heard she from a close friend she betrayed me to get a promotion and now was seen going out with one of the generals on 'Romantic Get-aways' and the such. Now at this point i didn't care, but the day of the cataclysm who could i not stop thinking about? Aria. I scoured the base for her and found her with a good 75% of the other VISORS dead. Now of course, you might think i was crushed, i was definatly sad but, in a way i felt revenge had been dealt for me. So i burned them like we were taught to since they didn't want another government getting their hands on the augments, and left them. Te only times i have ever thought about her are in those nightmares, not because i want her back but to remind me how some one so close can betray you none the less em and you have that in common, we don't trust others very quickly, took me a while to trust the dustmen.There are a couple visors besides me still alive but i cant find them for the life of me and i don't feel inclined to try any more."

Lilith looked at him and looked him over, scanning him.
"I see, she was important to you but she betrayed you. You could say the same happened to me...in a way. I was brought into the Chroma project by my fiance at the time. Then he turned me into a human weapon...and abused me when I was in the project. I hate him now."

He would nod and his smile was still their but it was sad and sympathetic. "Thats where the not trusting men comes in im guessing? I understand." He would push to button on the side of the visor and it would loosen enough to slide up revealing his two golden brown eyes, they had a sort of metal sheen tot hem almost and he smiled and extended his hand "Will you shake my hand now? I seem to remember our introductions were interrupted earlier."

Lilith reached out and hesitated for a moment before shaking his hand.
"Yes, I believe they were. We already know each others names so I believe saying them again is unnecessary."

He would shake her hand and smile laughing a bit "Well thats true, but still. Shaking hands is a sign of understanding and friendship so i like to make a point of doing it. I was made to kill but i dont like doing it much."

Lilith glanced at him for a moment then laughed. She smiled at him and said,
"We were both made to kill and neither of us likes the idea of that."

He would be surprised by the smile but he wouldnt mind it. "Well its good to see that all of this hasnt taken away your smile, that would be a shame. Its a rare thing to see now a days."

"Yes, it's been a long time since I smiled. I've had no one to smile for I guess. What about you, you seem to smile a lot more than most people in these times."

He would shrug "I dont know. I just seem to think that...doing anything else doesn't seem to have much of a point anymore. Everyone is sad so frowning wont help, everyone is mad so making a scowl wont help. But a smile can atleast make some one see that maybe there is some kind of light left int his god forsaken world."

Back in the main room of the cabin, some of the Acolytes that had stayed up to keep watch over the outpost sensed something. They spoke with each other quietly, although if Lilith and Armando listened, they may be able to make out some of what they were saying from the other room.

"Someone else has entered - another outsider."

"I know, Brother. Should we go?"

"No. We must stay. We are under the Warden's orders..."

"But the Warden is away. He must be alerted - "

"He already knows. Shall we alert any of the guardians? This is the second time today."

"No. But we should prepare. This will not end well."

Lilith stopped smiling at once and looked up.
"Someone else is in the forest now, another Chroma. Why would another..." she paused to listen for a moment. "I know who's coming."

Armando would stand up looking serious "Who is coming and are they a threat?"

Lilith stood and looked around. She was uneasy but calm.
"His name is Darrien and I can't say if he's a threat. He usually keeps to himself. Why would he come here?"

Armando would nod "Well he seems to have you a bit worried....sort of. So ill take that as a 60% chance of a threat."

The voices continued in the main room of the cabin. It sounded like a few more people joined the Acolytes inside.

"Blades at the ready, brothers. Our unwelcome guest has not left yet."

"Is it that troublesome girl from the village again?"

"No. Someone else. They tell me that he is not sneaking...like he wants to be found."

Lilith walked to the wall closest to the main room of the cabin and listened intently to what the acolytes were saying. She whispered under her breath as she listened.
"He wants to be found? That's unlike him." More was said but could not be made out.

Armando wouldn't intrude on her listening into the the acolytes and he would flip the visor back down and it would re-clamp over his eyes and glow for second. Ready to activate if needed. His hand rested on the hilt of his Ninjato styled blade and he was ready to fight if he had to. "So...what are they saying?"

"They must be some kind of hive mind. They all seem to know what's happening though they aren't in the area." She turned to face him. "They said he's acting like he wants to get caught."